Danny Briere explains why Flyers didn’t ‘dump’ Rasmus Ristolainen

However, as the deadline came and went, Ristolainen remained with the Flyers. Team president Danny Briere was not about to trade the tough defenseman unless he got full value for a blue liner who could hold hip position in the defensive zone, win the battle in the corner and protect the space in front of the net. The Flyers did not get the kind of offer that it would have taken for the team to send Ristolainen to another team.

Briere explained that the Flyers did take a number of calls on Ristolainen, but there was no reason for the Flyers to trade him unless they got a full package in return.

“We were not looking to dump Risto,” Briere explained. “We have a 6-4, right-shot defenseman and he is under contract with us next year. Of course teams are going to call about him. But we were not about to give him away for anything under full value. We got some serious calls, but we did not get what we considered full value.”

The 31-year-old Ristolainen is in his 13th season in the NHL. He played eight seasons with the Buffalo Sabres and he is in his fifth season with the Flyers. He is largely a defensive defenseman, but he has scored as many as 45 points in a season.